Since one of my favorite parts of working in real estate is helping connect newcomers to the community with lots of great places in the area, I thought I would write about some of my favorite places. I would love to get your comments about your own personal favorites as well!
Favorite local restaurants would have to include Gardners (great for special occasions, with yummy seafood and pasta dishes, all very fresh and tasty - & leave room , if you can, for their wonderful desserts!); Ricardo's (great Italian food and wine); Casa Mia (more great Italian food and pizzas - & a salad with house dressing that is our family's favorite); Budd Bay Cafe and Olympia Oyster House for nice waterfront meals - located where you can stroll along the boardwalk to check out boats before or after your meal, too; Dirty Dave's Pizza Parlor ( a longtime family favorite for casual meals with some really great pizza choices - did you know that cashews on pizza are delicious?!); Meconi's (for really good sub sandwiches!) - of course this is making me hungry & it isn't even quite lunch time yet!
Some favorite places to visit or take guests to the area - the State Capital campus (educational plus some lovely gardens and a fountain); the entire waterfront area with boardwalk for strolling, several good restaurants and fun stores, an awesome Farmer's Market, Batdorf and Bronson coffee tasting room etc; and waterfront includes Capital Lake with a very entertaining fountain to play in on a hot day, the Kissing Couple statue (yes, you need to take a picture with it) and the Fourth Avenue bridge walkway where you can view salmon coming home to spawn. Another wonderful place to see the salmon is Tumwater Falls Park where you can take the path along the Deschutes River to see the salmon coming up the fish ladders - I don't know how they can do it, but they do! Another "don't miss" place is the Hands on Children's Museum - lots of fun for kids of all ages!
And we are lucky to have parks galore, including a number of ones which have trails down to the saltwater beach as well as room to play and picnic - don't miss Priest Point Park, Burfoot. Watershed Park, McLane Nature trail, and the Woodard Bay Nature Preserve at the end of one stretch of our glorious walking trail network (miles and miles where you can walk yourself and/or your dog, bicycle, roller skate or roller blade safely away from car traffic with nature all around you!).
Monday, November 27, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Evaluating schools
One of the most common questions that buyers ask agents is which schools are the best. This is not a question an agent can answer for a buyer - each person's criteria for "best school" may be very different. Buyers might want to think through what would be essential to them in a school, and then it will be easier to locate resources where you can see how well each school stacks up on those particular items that you have rated as essential to you.
Some things I have heard buyers want to know about the various schools are:
What is the average classroom size?
What are the average test scores?
What is the graduation rate for the high school?
Have the school levies passed or failed in recent years?
How many portable classrooms does the school use to house classes?
What programs in art, music, foreign languages etc are available?
Has the school or any individual teachers won any awards in recent years?
Is there active parent participation in the school? How are parents interacting with the school?
What is the mission statement or philosophy statement of the school or district?
Does the high school have any special graduation requirements?
How many high school graduates go on to college? How well do they do there?
Many of these questions can be answered by the individual websites for the school districts or the site for the Superintendent of Public Instruction's office. Parents may also want to visit the school and/or particular classrooms for the ages of their children. Asking other parents their opinions of the school can also be useful - another great reason to knock on the doors of some neighbors of the house you are considering!
What other criteria would be important to you in choosing a school? What has worked for you in the past as a method to evaluate a particular school?
Some things I have heard buyers want to know about the various schools are:
What is the average classroom size?
What are the average test scores?
What is the graduation rate for the high school?
Have the school levies passed or failed in recent years?
How many portable classrooms does the school use to house classes?
What programs in art, music, foreign languages etc are available?
Has the school or any individual teachers won any awards in recent years?
Is there active parent participation in the school? How are parents interacting with the school?
What is the mission statement or philosophy statement of the school or district?
Does the high school have any special graduation requirements?
How many high school graduates go on to college? How well do they do there?
Many of these questions can be answered by the individual websites for the school districts or the site for the Superintendent of Public Instruction's office. Parents may also want to visit the school and/or particular classrooms for the ages of their children. Asking other parents their opinions of the school can also be useful - another great reason to knock on the doors of some neighbors of the house you are considering!
What other criteria would be important to you in choosing a school? What has worked for you in the past as a method to evaluate a particular school?
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Intro and house hunting in the rain
This is my first blog posting about the real estate market in the Olympia, WA area. I work as a real estate agent in the residential market and love the opportunity to be a resource person for people who are unfamiliar with the process of buying or selling homes, who need recommendations for other associated professionals, and who want to know about the local community and trends in the market. I have lived here since the mid 1970's and am astonished at the growth that has and is occurring. It is fascinating to me to watch the trends move from seller's markets to buyers' markets and back again - and to try to spot the factors that will move the market in the next direction.
Right now we have had lots and lots of rainy and breezy days - which is actually one of the very best times to go house hunting! We might get a little damp between car and homes, but it is excellent weather to spot a number of things about a home and property. You can easily tell if there are drainage problems on the lot (if you cannot get from the driveway to the front door without jumping huge puddles this is not good!). You can tell if there are roof leaks, and you can see if the house seems bright enough or if you have an uncontrollable urge to turn on all the light switches even though it is midday. If a house looks good on a rainy, dismal day it will look fabulous when the sun shines! You can also get a look at the landscaping at its (probable) least attractive time, and tell whether all of the privacy from the neighbor disappears when the tree leaves fall. Might be OK, but it's at least nice to know!
Right now we have had lots and lots of rainy and breezy days - which is actually one of the very best times to go house hunting! We might get a little damp between car and homes, but it is excellent weather to spot a number of things about a home and property. You can easily tell if there are drainage problems on the lot (if you cannot get from the driveway to the front door without jumping huge puddles this is not good!). You can tell if there are roof leaks, and you can see if the house seems bright enough or if you have an uncontrollable urge to turn on all the light switches even though it is midday. If a house looks good on a rainy, dismal day it will look fabulous when the sun shines! You can also get a look at the landscaping at its (probable) least attractive time, and tell whether all of the privacy from the neighbor disappears when the tree leaves fall. Might be OK, but it's at least nice to know!
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